Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur

From Srila Prabhupada Lilamrita

By HH Satsvarupa das Gosvami
Submitted by Manoj

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was one of ten children born to

Bhaktivinoda Thakura, a great Vaisnava teacher in the disciplic line from
Lord Caitanya Himself. Before the time of Bhaktivinoda, the teachings of
Lord Caitanya had been obscured by teachers and sects falsely claiming to
be followers of Lord Caitanya but deviating in various drastic ways from His
pure teachings. The good reputation of Vaisnavism had been compromised.

Bhaktivinoda Thakura, however, through his prolific writings and through

his social position as a high government officer, reestablished the
respectability of Vaisnavism. He preached that the teachings of Lord
Caitanya were the highest form of theism and were intended not for a
particular sect or religion or nation but for all the people of the world.

He prophesied that Lord Caitanya's teachings would go worldwide, and he

yearned for it.
The religion preached by [Chaitanya] Mahaprabhu is universal and not
exclusive The principle of kirtan as the future church of the world invites
all classes of men, without distinction of caste or clan, to the highest
cultivation of the spirit. This church, it appears, will extend all over the
world and take the place of all sectarian churches, which exclude outsiders
from the precincts of the mosque, church, or temple.

Lord Chaitanya did not advent Himself to liberate only a few men of India.
Rather, His main objective was to emancipate all living entities of all
countries throughout the entire universe and preach the Eternal Religion.
Lord Chaitanya says in the Chaitanya Bhagwat: "In every town, country,
and village, My name will be sung." There is no doubt that this
unquestionable order will come to pass Although there is still no pure
society of Vaishnavas to be had, yet Lord Chaitanya's prophetic words will
in a few days come true, I am sure. Why not? Nothing is absolutely pure in
the beginning. From imperfection, purity will come about.

Oh, for that day when the fortunate English, French, Russian, German, and
American people will take up banners, mridangas, and kartals and raise
kirtan through their streets and towns. When will that day come?

As a prominent magistrate, Bhaktivinoda Thakura was a responsible

government officer. He served also as superintendent of the temple of Lord
Jagannatha and was the father of ten children. Yet in spite of these
responsibilities, he served the cause of Krishna with prodigious energy.
After coming home from his office in the evening, taking his meals, and
going to bed, he would sleep from eight until midnight and then get up and
write until morning. He wrote more than one hundred books during his life,
many of them in English. One of his important contributions, with the
cooperation of Jagannatha dasa Babaji and Gaurakisora dasa Babaji, was to
locate the exact birthplace of Lord Caitanya in Mayapur, about sixty miles
north of Calcutta.

While working to reform Gaudiya Vaisnavism in India, he prayed to Lord

Caitanya, "Your teachings have been much depreciated. It is not in my
power to restore them." And he prayed for a son to help him in his
preaching. When, on February 6, 1874, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was born
to Bhaktivinoda Thakura in Jagannatha Puri, the Vaisnavas considered him
the answer to his father's prayers. He was born with the umbilical cord
wrapped around his neck and draped across his chest like the sacred thread
worn by brahmanas. His parents gave him the name Bimala Prasada.

When Bimala Prasada was six months old, the carts of the Jagannatha
festival stopped at the gate of Bhaktivinoda's residence and for three days
could not be moved. Bhaktivinoda Thakura's wife brought the infant onto
the cart and approached the Deity of Lord Jagannatha. Spontaneously, the
infant extended his arms and touched the feet of Lord Jagannatha and was
immediately blessed with a garland that fell from the body of the Lord.
When Bhaktivinoda Thakura learned that the Lord's garland had fallen onto
his son, he realized that this was the son for whom he had prayed.

One day, when Bimala Prasada was still a child of no more than four years,
his father mildly rebuked him for eating a mango not yet duly offered to
Lord Krishna. Bimala Prasada, although only a child, considered himself an
offender to the Lord and vowed never to eat mangoes again. (This was a
vow that he would follow throughout his life.) By the time Bimala Prasada
was seven years old, he had memorized the entire Bhagavad-gita and could
even explain its verses. His father then began training him in proofreading
and printing, in conjunction with the publishing of the Vaisnava magazine
Sajjana-tosani. With his father, he visited many holy places and heard
discourses from the learned panditas.

As a student, Bimala Prasada preferred to read the books written by his

father instead of the school texts. By the time he was twenty-five he had
become well versed in Sanskrit, mathematics, and astronomy, and he had
established himself as the author and publisher of many magazine articles
and one book, Surya-siddhanta, for which he received the epithet
Siddhanta Sarasvati in recognition of his erudition. When he was twenty-six
his father guided him to take initiation from a renounced Vaisnava saint,
Gaurakisora dasa Babaji, who advised him "to preach the Absolute Truth
and keep aside all other works."

Receiving the blessings of Gaurakisora dasa Babaji, Bimala Prasada (now

Siddhanta Sarasvati) resolved to dedicate his body, mind, and words to the
service of Lord Krishna.
In 1905 Siddhanta Sarasvati took a vow to chant the Hare Krishna mantra a
billion times. Residing in Mayapur in a grass hut near the birthplace of Lord
Caitanya, he chanted the Hare Krishna mantra day and night. He cooked
rice once a day in an earthen pot and ate nothing more; he slept on the
ground, and when the rainwater leaked through the grass ceiling, he sat
beneath an umbrella, chanting.

In 1911, while his aging father was lying ill, Siddhanta Sarasvati took up a
challenge against pseudo Vaisnavas who claimed that birth in their caste
was the prerequisite for preaching Krishna consciousness. The caste-
conscious brahmana community had become incensed by Bhaktivinoda
Thakura's presentation of many scriptural proofs that anyone, regardless of
birth, could become a brahmana Vaisnava. These smarta brahmanas, out to
prove the inferiority of the Vaisnavas, arranged a discussion. On behalf of
his indisposed father, young Siddhanta Sarasvati wrote an essay, "The
Conclusive Difference Between the Brahmana and the Vaisnava," and
submitted it before his father. Despite his poor health, Bhaktivinoda
Thakura was elated to hear the arguments that would soundly defeat the
challenge of the smartas.

Siddhanta Sarasvati then traveled to Midnapore, where panditas from all

over India had gathered for a three-day discussion. Some of the smarta
panditas who spoke first claimed that anyone born in a sudra family, even
though initiated by a spiritual master, could never become purified and
perform the brahminical duties of worshiping the Deity or initiating
disciples. Finally, Siddhanta Sarasvati delivered his speech. He began
quoting Vedic references glorifying the brahmanas, and at this the smarta
scholars became very much pleased. But when he began discussing the
actual qualifications for becoming a brahmana, the qualities of the
Vaisnavas, the relationship between the two, and who, according to the
Vedic literature, is qualified to become a spiritual master and initiate
disciples, then the joy of the Vaisnava-haters disappeared. Siddhanta
Sarasvati conclusively proved from the scriptures that if one is born as a
sudra but exhibits the qualities of a brahmana, then he should be honored
as a brahmana, despite his birth. And if one is born in a brahmana family
but acts like a sudra, then he is not a brahmana. After his speech,
Siddhanta Sarasvati was congratulated by the president of the conference,
and thousands thronged around him. It was a victory for Vaisnavism.

With the passing away of his father in 1914 and his spiritual master in
1915, Siddhanta Sarasvati continued the mission of Lord Caitanya. He
assumed editorship of Sajjana-tosani and established the Bhagwat Press in
Krishnanagar. Then in 1918, in Mayapur, he sat down before a picture of
Gaurakisora dasa Babaji and initiated himself into the sannyasa order. At
this time he assumed the sannyasa title Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Gosvami
Maharaja.

Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was dedicated to using the printing press as the

best medium for large-scale distribution of Krishna consciousness. He
thought of the printing press as a brhat mrdanga, a big mrdanga. Although
the mrdanga drum had traditionally been used to accompany kirtana, even
during the time of Lord Caitanya, and although Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati
himself led kirtana parties and sent groups of devotees chanting in the
streets and playing on the mrdangas, such kirtanas could be heard only for
a block or two. But with the brhat mrdanga, the big mrdanga drum of the
printing press, the message of Lord Caitanya could be spread all over the
world.

Most of the literature Abhay began reading had been printed on the
Bhagwat Press, which Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati had established in 1915.
The Bhagwat Press had printed the Caitanya-caritamrta, with commentary
by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, the Bhagavad-git, with commentary by
Visvanatha Cakravarti, and one after another, the works of Bhaktivinoda
Thakura. This literature was the spiritual heritage coming from Lord
Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who had appeared almost five hundred years
before.
Abhay had been a devotee of Lord Caitanya since childhood, and he was
familiar with the life of Lord Caitanya through the well-known scriptures
Caitanya-caritamrta and Caitanya-bhagavata. He had learned of Lord
Caitanya not only as the most ecstatic form of a pure devotee who had
spread the chanting of the holy name to all parts of India, but also as the
direct appearance of Sri Krishna Himself in the form of Radha and Krishna
combined. But now, for the first time, Abhay was in touch with the great
wealth of literature compiled by the Lord's immediate associates and
followers, passed down in disciplic succession, and expanded on by great
authorities. Lord Caitanya's immediate followers- Srila Rupa Gosvami, Srila
Sanatana Gosvami, Srila Jiva Gosvami, and others-had compiled many
volumes based on the Vedic scriptures and proving conclusively that Lord
Caitanya's teachings were the essence of Vedic wisdom. There were many
books not yet published, but Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was intent on
establishing many presses, just to release the sound of the brhat mrdanga
for the benefit of all people.

Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati was teaching the conclusion of Lord

Caitanya's teachings, that Lord Krishna is the Supreme Personality of
Godhead and that the chanting of His holy name should be stressed above
all other religious practices. In former ages, other methods of attaining to
God had been available, but in the present Age of Kali only the chanting of
Hare Krishna would be effective. On the authority of the scriptures such as
the Brhan-naradeya Purana and the Upanisads, Bhaktivinoda Thakura had
specifically cited the maha-mantra: Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna
Krishna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. Lord
Krishna Himself had confirmed in Bhagavad-gita that the only method of
attaining Him was devotional service: "Abandon all varieties of religion and
just surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions. Do not
fear."

Abhay knew these verses, he knew the chanting, and he knew the
conclusions of the Git. But now, as he eagerly read the writings of the
great acaryas, he had fresh realizations of the scope of Lord Caitanya's
mission. Now he was discovering the depth of his own Vaisnava heritage
and its efficacy for bringing about the highest welfare for people in an age
destined to be full of troubles.